Modern Buddy

As stupid as this sounds, I can't get the seat open on my Stella (yes, it is unlocked!). I've had it open lots of times, but for some reason it appears to be catching on the latch (opens very slightly, then won't open any further). I have one of the side cowls off. Any ideas?

That latch can be very hard to release. What I wind up doing is:

1) Place left hand against the FRONT of the seat.
2) Place the palm of the right hand against the latch button on the back of the seat.
3) Squeeze the two hands together HARD, while
4) Raise the right hand, lifting the seat.

This usually works for me.

Please note that sometimes you'll need to press the seat towards one side or the other. This is because the sides of the latch frequently snag against the post.

I hope this helps!

Maybe the release lever for the cowl is interfering with the seat. With the cowl off it is possible that it has moved a little.

I have to push down on the seat to get it open a lot of the times.

I wonder if it's something to do with the alignment?

I've seen car hoods do the same.

So I was able to get the seat to unlatch if I sat on the front of the seat and then pushed the button to open it. The latch was in fact pushing the front of the seat up a little bit, preventing the seat from getting past the latch. Thanks for all the ideas - can't wait for the weather to warm up enough to ride!

is this a problem with most stellas?

gearhead wrote:is this a problem with most stellas?

It's pretty common with Stellas. The design has its quirks - you just have to learn how to deal with them.

If you want easy, get a Buddy.

just remove the locking post when you get it open. There really is no need for it unless your worried about someone stealing your gas. Of all the scooters Ive had, and all the times I have parked in a bad area, I have never had gas stolen...

monza wrote:just remove the locking post when you get it open. There really is no need for it unless your worried about someone stealing your gas. Of all the scooters Ive had, and all the times I have parked in a bad area, I have never had gas stolen...

but...someone could fire up your scooter literally lol

I have had the same issue with mine. It's like said above, it is catching on the post and just needs to be pushed gently in the opposite direction it catching on. If you can determine where it is catching, if it's the same spot over and over, you can loosen the 3 bolts holding the seat on and move it slightly in the other direction, then tighten. That helps too.

ugh...problem after problem with this scoot (but reviews told me this was what I was getting into). Brand new 2013 4T manual. Stopped to get gas, rode to my destination, and now I can't open the seat. Tried every key angle possible, but button just never catches to release the seat. (additionally I've had the og spark plug literally crack after < 400 miles, along with a host of other problems). Man....sure looks cool though. Almost 700 miles now, was planning a long ride tomorrow, but now I literally can't open the seat to fuel up, so I guess it's back to the scooter dealer tomorrow instead. Will let you know how it turns out, but jeez! When it works I'm loving it....unfortunately that's somewhat rare. It's enough to make a man want to buy a motorcycle.

tavis.lovell wrote:ugh...problem after problem with this scoot (but reviews told me this was what I was getting into). Brand new 2013 4T manual. Stopped to get gas, rode to my destination, and now I can't open the seat. Tried every key angle possible, but button just never catches to release the seat. (additionally I've had the og spark plug literally crack after < 400 miles, along with a host of other problems). Man....sure looks cool though. Almost 700 miles now, was planning a long ride tomorrow, but now I literally can't open the seat to fuel up, so I guess it's back to the scooter dealer tomorrow instead. Will let you know how it turns out, but jeez! When it works I'm loving it....unfortunately that's somewhat rare. It's enough to make a man want to buy a motorcycle.

Sounds like the dealer didn't prep the bike a good as he should. I've had mine a year and the only problem I had was the relay going out....

To open a a stuck seat, you may have to palm slap the button to get it to pop.
Once you finally do get it open... get a large wrench and remove the seat post.
Then fit spacer washer/ shims under it and test and shim and test and de-shim and test.
Soon, you'll hit upon a winning combination that will give you troubke free seat opening forever.
Good luck

I have to put some muscle into opening the seat.

Crazy88s wrote:I have to put some muscle into opening the seat.

adjust your seat post.. up or down... all it takes is an 8 inch Cresent wrench.
Start turning it I/2 turn either way and see what happens.

So, as I had mentioned before, seat wouldn't open, and it felt like the key/button on the seat just wasn't catching. Took it to the dealer and it turns out that was indeed exactly what was happening. The latching mechanism had got out of alignment. Basically when you push the button it presses against two pieces of metal that are on a pivot, and they spread apart allowing the seat to raise. In my case the back end of the button was missing the piece it was supposed to hit (it was going over or under, I can't remember which one). To fix it: well the dealer got the seat open using a long skinny screw driver. Really helps when you have an identical scooter hanging around so you can examine what the lock mechanism actually looks like...which is pretty much impossible to do with the seat stuck down. They ended up scratching up some plastic under the seat, but whatever. Once the seat was open, the whole thing is basically in a plastic box, they opened that up and all the pieces inside were held together by some angled metal brackets. In my case they were not quite angled at 90 degrees which was making all the components a little loose inside. They basically just bent the brackets inward and everything became a little tighter and back in alignment, and the problem was fixed. This has been months ago now, no problem with it since.